Reading accelerator



July 1, 1958 D. M. MARTY READING ACCELERATOR Filed Aug. 30, 1956 uvmvrbx 001-70771) M. MARTY (56211024 r LM L nited States READING ACCELERATOR Dorothy M. Marty, Mentor, Ohio Application August 30, 1956, Serial No. 607,189 .2 Claim ci. 116 -119) 7 usually it is preferred to cover the reading completed,

thereby to concentrate the attention of the reader, and, in referring to the efficiency of the guide, I mean the uniformity and completeness of the desired obscuration as the guide is moved on the page. For obvious reasons, such pacers are generally used in connection with bound books or periodicals, in which the reading surfaces are not only not perfectly flat but of varying contour as the reading progresses through the same.

It is, accordingly, my intention to provide a pacer so constructed and operative as to conform closely to the contour of the pages of an open'book, for example, in all conditions of opening thereof. In other words, my new pacer has a characteristic of flexibility whereby it may be made closely to overlie the pages to be read regardless of the specific contour of the same.

Another object is to provide such a reading accelerator of simple and inexpensive, yet durable, construction. An additional object of the invention is to provide an accelerator having the noted characteristics which is portable in nature, so that it may be carried in a pocket of the users apparel, in his portfolio, or the like.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail a certain illustrative embodiment of the invention, this being indicative, however, of but one of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the new accelerator as it would be used in connection with a bound book or magazine;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device; and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section viewed from the plane of the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the accelerator consists quite simply of a line guide and an actuator bar or strip the two being designated generally by refer ence numerals 10 and 11, respectively. Line guide 10 is in the form of an elongated strip of flexible material so shaped as to include a center transverse section 12 of general V-shape and upwardly bowed longitudinal sections 13 and 14 at either side thereof.

As shown in Fig. 1, the center section or node 12 of the guide is designed to fit within the fold of an open book B, with the arched sections 13 and 14 conforming approximately to the contour of the open pages at the respective sides and extending equally at least to the outer margins of the printed material on the pages. The transverse centerline is, of course, at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the guide, whereby the center section engagement in the fold properly orients the guide lengthwise with respect to the book pages. As will appear more fully below, the flexible nature of the strip, which may be made of light metal, plastic, wood, or other suitable material, permits the wings or main side sections 13 and 14 of the guide to be brought into intimate contact with the pages regardless of the degree to which the book is opened.

In order to actuate this line guide 10, that is, by moving it down the pages of the book, I provide the flat elongated strip 11 laid across the top of the guide and thus in contact with the latter tangentially at the spacedapart uppermost portions 15 and 16 thereof or the regions of maximum external curvature. The two elements are joined atthese limited regions of contact by means of rivets 17 in the illustrated construction, and it will be noted that the actuator is slightly longer than the guide with its ends 18 and 19 projecting equally beyond the respective ends of the latter.

The guide is thereby manipulatable by the actuator, most conveniently by grasping the projecting ends thereof. It will also be noted that the actuator 11 is not quite as wide as the guide, so that with one pair of corresponding edges of the two in registry, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2, the other edge or margin 20 of the guide will project outwardly beyond the actuator edge at such side. This marginal projection facilitates the reading, the line of sight usually being at an acute angle to the page, by making the line guiding edge more readily apparent.

The actuator is fairly rigid with respect to the guide, for example, it may be made of a different, less easily deformed material, or of heavier stock, and by pressing downwardly on the actuator, the wings of the guide may be caused to flex if necessary to ensure the close overlying contact with the book pages. The width of the guide is, as shown, appreciable, to maintain proper orientation of the guide in its travel down the book and, since the actuator strip provides a straight edge, it can be used in the manner of a ruler with inch markings 21 applied thereto.

It will accordingly be seen that my new accelerator is characterized essentially by a flexible line guide so constructed and arranged with actuating means as to be hand controlled, with respect both to the pacing movement and to adjustment for adaptation to variable reading surface contours. The device is also of an invertible nature, the strip 11 used normally as the actuator in the reading of a bound book obviously being capable of serving itself as a line guide in the reading of a fiat page or sheet.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims, or the equivalent of such, be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A line guide comprising a guide strip of thin flexible material having a transverse center section of general V-shape adapted to fit within the fold of an open book, said guide strip at the sides of such center section being upwardly bowed to conform approximately to the contour of the pages of the open book, and a flat actuator strip extending across and secured to the outer surfaces of the uppermost portions of said guide strips, such uppermost portions of the guide strip and hence the areas "of connection of the same to said actuator strip being one longitudinal edge of said guide strip being displaced outwardly of the corresponding edge of said actuator strip. Y

2. A line guide comprising a guide strip of thin fiexible material having a transverse center section of general V-shape adapted to fit within the fold of an open book,

said guide strip at the sides of such center section being upwardly bowed to conform approximately to the con- .tour of the pages of the open book, and a flat actuator strip extending across and secured to the outer surfaces of the uppermost portions of said guide strip, suchj uppermost portions of the guide strip and hence the areas of connection of the same to said actuator strip being spaced inwardly of the ends ,of said guide strip, said actuator strip being relatively rigid so that the guide strip can be flexed closely to contact the pages of the book by pressing on the actuator strip, said actuator strip also being of slightly greater length than the guide strip and having its ends extending respectively beyond the ends of the guide strip, at least one longitudinal edge of the guide strip being displaced outwardly of the corresponding edge of said actuator strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Woodley Oct. 23, 1934 

